Danielle Wysokowski wins S.I. Catholic girls' bowling Individuals

Danielle Wysokowski fired a 579 to win Division I of the Staten Island Catholic High School Girls' Bowling League Invitational Individuals.Staten Island Advance photo

It was still
anyone's title to win after the first two games in Division I of the Staten
Island Catholic High School Girls' Bowling League Invitational Individuals.

None of the
participants had really separated themselves from the pack and the top five bowlers
were separated by only 26 pins.

If anybody
wanted to grab the coveted title, it would probably come down to who would make
the loudest noise in that final game.

And that's
what Danielle Wysokowski did.

The St.
Joseph Hill sophomore blasted an Individuals-high 214 to finish with a 579 to
win the championship on Monday at Rab's Country Lanes.

"I just
realized what I did in that second game and what I had to fix and I came out
and I just hit my mark and it just worked perfectly," said the righty. "I had
to tuck my arm in and throw it over the second arrow."

After the
first game, it was Notre Dame Academy's Joyce VanDrost who jumped out of the
gate early with a 207 as three bowlers cracked the 200-pin barrier. In the
second game, the scores were down across the board and that included
Wysokowki's effort.

After
starting with a 191, the Oakwood resident dropped to a 174. However, her 365
was still good for third, which was 14 pins behind leader and St. Joseph
by-the-Sea's Rachel Cerrito and 11 pins behind VanDrost.

"I just knew
from there, it could only go up," said Wysokowski. "They were saying nobody had
a definite spot so I just had to put everything out there. So that's what I
did.

"I got three
strikes so I started feeling better about myself and I just kind of finished
through," she added.

Wysokowski
was one of only two bowlers to roll over a 200 in that third game and that 214
performance paved the way for a 20-pin win over Notre Dame Academy's Nicole
Merchan.

"Starting off,
I opened with a split so I put a little more pressure on myself, but I just
kind of cooled down and stepped back and realized what I had to do," said the
champion, who also entered the tournament with the league's highest average at
185. "I'm ecstatic. I can't believe it. I'm so excited."

In Division
II action, St. Joseph Hill's Theresa O'Toole rolled a 190 in the second game en
route to a 456 series for that title.